Green or Dry - Which cuts easier?

[BigV]

In my experience I don't get much opportunity to cut seasoned wood. Most are standing live trees so I can't weigh in on which is easier to cut.
I can however throw my .02 cents in on splitting.
I use a hydraulic splitter.
Maple seems to split a lot easier when green. I had some well seasoned maple “pop” when splitting sending large chunks flying. I had one hit me so hard in the thigh it felt like I was hit with a baseball bat.

Red Oak splits well green or dry, but can be a little bit stringy when green.

White Oak seems to be stringy when it dries so I like to split it green.

Choke Cherry splits better dry.

Ash splits great green or dry.

Sycamore splits better green, and tends to be real stringy when dry.

Cotton Wood: Well cotton wood is really heavy green as it is full of sap. You can actually watch the sap run out the ends when splitting. I like to split Cottonwood dry as it is much lighter and splits about the same green or dry. I use it during the early and late season burns as it burns fast.
Well that's my story...

 

[BigV]

I always get jealous hearing people talk about splitting when frozen. That's near impossible in the snowbelt in Northeast Ohio, where if it's frozen, it's also covered in snow and sheets of ice. I recently heard that Ohio's snowbelt, just east of Cleveland, is the 7th snowiest place in the country. Looking at a map, you wouldn't guess that.

Hello fellow Buckeye!
I live in northern Summit County and get just the tip of the snow belt so I know exactly what you mean.
It's pretty tough getting the rounds off the ground when their frozen in 2 inches of ice and covered with 12 inches of snow. I have actually tried to loosen them up using my 12 pound sledge, but found it just wasn't worth the effort.

 

[ccwhite]

I've come across some dead quite a while but still standing oak that was like cutting stone.

I guess it depends on the species of wood, but I can tell you that if you had your choice of cutting Hickory or Black Locust green or dry you certainly would vote for GREEN!

+1 on this. I cut a lot of black locust and would definitely rather cut green. Slitting .... I don't really care the splitter eats it all undiscriminatingly. (good place for a cool smiley if I could figure them out!!)

 

[CTburning]

What happens to wood as it dries? It gets more dense. What is easier to cut, an Oak or Pine board? The more dense the wood the harder it is to cut. Splitting is a different story.